New Moon Alternative
by Toura
Summary: What would've happened if the wolves were too late to save Bella from being bitten? Without their help, she is left burning beneath the forest alone. Will she reunite with Edward?
1. The Twist

**I did begin to write this story a while ago, but writers block and months of coursework left it forgotten. I deleted the old version and have made a second attempt at writing it. Please be patient, new chapters are on their way!**

**Reviews are always welcome and are great encouragement, please feel free to criticise too and comment on how you feel the story will progress.**

**No copyright intended, all credit given to Stephenie Meyer, the creator of these characters.  
>I'm just having a little fun with the plot.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong><span>The meadow scene, New Moon<span>**

"**Please," I gasped.**

**Laurent shook hid head, his face kind. "Look at it this way, Bella. You are very lucky I was the one to find you."**

"**Am I?" I mouthed, faltering back another step.**

**Laurent followed, lithe and graceful.**

"**Yes," he assured me. "I'll be very quick. You won't feel a thing, I promise. Oh, I'll lie to Victoria about that later, naturally, just to placate her. But if you knew what she had planned for you, Bella…" He shook his head with a slow movement, almost as if in disgust. "I swear you'd be thanking me for this."**

**I stared at him in horror.**

**He sniffed at the breeze that blew threads of my hair in his direction. "Mouthwatering," he repeated, inhaling deeply.**

**I tensed for the spring, my eyes squinting as I cringed away, and the sound of Edwards furious roar echoed distantly in the back of my head. His name burst through all the walls I'd built to contain it. **_**Edward, Edward, Edward.**_** I was going to die. It shouldn't matter if I thought of him now. **_**Edward, I love you.**_

Through my narrowed eyes, I saw the leap from Laurent that covered the small gap between us. I stumbled backwards in an attempt to escape, unable to keep my balance as my doomed fate approached me with every passing second. Afraid to watch as he stalked closer, I turned away, covering my face with my hands as I had once done in the Ballet Studio, a lifetime ago. And Edward, whose growls were now so loud it felt like my head would explode with the noise, would never know what had happen to me. Stupid to think he would care, anyway, he might never even know I'd died...

A sharp stabbing pain in my right arm meant it was nearly over, but something wasn't right. This wasn't quick, like he'd promised. I'd been crouched on the ground, my heart pounding in my ears, before I'd realised that Laurent was gone. I opened my eyes in bewilderment.

What had happened?

An excruciatingly painful sensation began travelling up my right arm. It stunned me to the ground, but I was still able to see what was happening around me.

A large, black bear was tearing what must be Laurent to shreds. How could this be happening? How could that bear-the super bear-oversized as it was, be _hurting_ Laurent?

Through my bewilderment, the pain struck as the venom began to creep up my arm. Forgetting everything apart from the urge to escape the pain, I tried to attract the commotion towards me. Either of them could finish me off, I didn't care; I just couldn't tolerate the pain that was coursing through my body. I'd rather die than feel it, but my attempts to end my life were in vain.

It was dragging Laurent's torn body out of the meadow, away from me. I cried out. It couldn't leave me here like this! Why wasn't it coming for me? I was a far easier meal that Laurent, and far tastier at that!

Trapped in the raging conflict that was happening inside my body, I was left alone in the meadow as the beast vanished into the shadows. I screamed aloud, trying to bring it back. Anything to stop the pain. It felt like I should be dying, but also like I never would.

Alone and scared, never to see those of who I loved again, I burned beneath the canopy of the forest.


	2. Too Late

**No copyright intended, all credit given to Stephenie Meyer, the creator of these characters.  
>I'm just having a little fun with the plot.<strong>

**Jacob**

_No! _I thought desperately.

We'd just come across the scent of the leach we'd been tracking down all month, bad thing was, I could smell Bella on the trail, too.

_Why did she go out today? Couldn't she of stayed in?_

We were too late. I knew that, but I didn't want it to be true. I could hear them, but we weren't close enough to stop it.

The packs mind was in chaos; everyone was running at full speed, listening to the sound of Bella's pleading voice.

_Jacob._ Sam thought. _It's going to be too late for her. He's already bitten her. She's changing, there's nothing we can do to stop it._

I blocked him out._ She was going to be fine. We would kill the bloodsucker then save Bella. She was going to be fine. She was going to be fine…_

Everyone stiffened; it was hard on everyone to know that we were too late to save a human life. The past few weeks had been turmoil; people being murdered in the middle of the street.

_Those blood-sucking freaks just can't stop, can they?_ _First they leave Bella like she's some doll, played with and broken, and now this…_

We were always too late to help them, the people who had been hunted, but not now. We _would_ save Bella…

Sam had already reached the meadow, tackling the bastard off Bella. We burst through the trees into a circular meadow, where a heap of blood-sucking rubble lay scattered on the ground.

Bella was hidden in the shadows, staring bewilderedly at Sam. When her eyes flickered to me, I saw her blood smudged down her arm.  
><em>No…! <em>I needed to save her, I could suck the venom out; it hadn't reached her heart yet... I took a step in her direction, getting ready to shift. _No!_ Sam growled. _Their venom is poison to you! You can't help her now, it's too late. Don't kill yourself over something you can't save; help me with this._ He glanced towards the torso of the parasite, which Paul was now dragging towards the trees.

I knew Sam was trying to move my mind off the image of Bella, but I had to follow the Alpha's orders. My feet moved without any thought on my account, carrying me into the shadows out of Bella's sight.

I glanced back, and instantly regretted it; Bella's face was contorted with pain; I doubted she was seeing what was infront of her anymore. Sam was right, there was no helping her, and no matter what I did there's nothing I could do to save her.

A thought hit my mind then; she wouldn't survive. Not because of the pain, or the vunrable place she was left, but because of the threat she would become.  
>Sam would want her dead if she touched any human. He couldn't save her, and his quick mind had already made the decision that, if more lives where threatened, the threat must be destroyed.<p>

I couldn't let him do that. I needed to get him away from her as soon as I could, even if it meant I had to go too. I tried to keep my thoughts hidden, although I knew most of the pack were avoiding what was going on inside my head it was likely Sam was listening.

I glanced at the mangled body that Paul had almost finished shreading and trudged towards him, helping make the vermins body small enough that it would burn easily.

_I'll give her a chance, Jake. She had a kind heart, maybe she'll be lucky enough to keep it once it's over.  
><em>I glanced up at Sam. He was looking at me intently, his back turned to Bella. Although his words sounded true, I heard the doubt in his thoughts; he would never believe a leech could have a good heart, he didn't think they even had souls.

He tried to show me images of the Cullens, and Bella with treacle eyes, but it just made me cringe. The images were something I'd tried to avoid thinking of a thousand times before this day.  
><em>You better stay true to that, Sam.<br>_Without waiting for a reply, I phased. I didn't want any more flase hope from Sam.

Quickly pulling on my pants, I grabbed Pauls lighter and started a fire with the tinder I kept in the pockets of my shorts. As Paul threw the body onto the fire, the choking smoke bellowed upwards, becoming trapped beneath the thick canopy and suffocating the living things that hadn't already scurried away from the commotion.

I couldn't listen to Bella's screams any longer. I had to help Paul under Sam's orders, but I was frozen to the spot as Bella let out another round of piercing shrieks. Each of her whimpers left me feeling more and more distant.

I ran then; away from it all. I didn't want to hear Bella's screams any longer, I couldn't keep them from echoing in my head, piercing my heart.  
>I couldn't stay here. No matter how strong the Sam's words were, I couldn't.<p> 


	3. Vision

**No copyright intended, all credit given to Stephenie Meyer, the creator of these characters.  
>I'm just having a little fun with the plot.<strong>

**Alice**

Laurent stalked closer to her through the trees. How could we not have seen he would return? If we were still there she would be ok…

How many times had I thought that? I knew Edward thought her life was better now we were gone, but the few glimpses I'd seen were painful to watch, let alone experience.

We couldn't help her now. It was too late for her. She would never be able to fend off a vampire.

Her future blurred, and for one fleeting second, I saw Bella again in a vision I had seen that had changed her life: stone and cold. But, it was different: she was wandering alone here. I couldn't see where she was, but she looked… _terrified_. There was no other word for it. Her eyes, bright crimson, roamed back and fourth and her arms, held across her body, were trembling.

I frowned. What had happened? What was _that_ supposed to mean? I'd prepared myself for the worst; for her _death._ Surely she couldn't get away from Laurent. That was impossible! There were no other vampires to help her, and nothing else _could _help her. Hope grew inside me. Maybe she'd be okay... somehow…

Is that what I wanted, though? Having Bella be condemned to the same fate as the rest of us? Even though being away from Bella was tearing Edward up - and Bella, too - I knew that he was right in leaving her. Damning her to the fate the rest of us were prisoner to was wrong, no matter what she thought.

I knew Jasper didn't want to interrupt me, but feeling my outright horror was making him worried.  
>"<em>Alice,<em> what is going _on?_" He hissed. I'd stopped mid-hunt while with Jazz and Rose, but kept quiet for fear that Rose would over hear. The last thing we needed was someone running after Edward telling him his soul mate was just murdered because of us; that would just make his day.  
>"Wait." I muttered.<br>Something wasn't right... She was- gone. She had just- _disappeared_.

_What?_ But she was going to be okay! She was supposed to be fine… Yet, she'd completely vanished from my sight.  
><em>What <em>was going _on?_

I turned back to Jasper. I was ashamed to look him in the eye, knowing that Bella was being _killed_ right now, and we weren't doing anything. Although there was nothing we _could_do, it felt horrible not trying.

"Jasper." I choked. "_Don't_ tell…" I glanced through the trees, in the direction of Rose. She was almost to the mountains now, chasing her prey, far enough away that she couldn't hear us if we kept quiet.  
>"I think Bella's…" I couldn't finish. If I could cry, I knew tears would spring to my eyes now.<br>He stared at me, horror struck.  
>"What happened?"<br>"It's our fault," I moaned, "Laurent… I don't understand…" I told him what I'd seen, including the image of Bella wandering alone.

He took me in him arms and tried to sooth me, easing my dread with his control over emotions, but I still knew something bad was happening to Bella.  
>"Wait. You didn't actually <em>see<em> Bella being killed, so… maybe she's not _dead_." We both knew what he meant; even if she wasn't dead, she wouldn't be _alive_. Not really.  
>"Jazz, I can't see her at all. How could she of survived? It doesn't make sense that she <em>could<em> survive with Laurent there."  
>"Alice. Keep looking for her. She's <em>not<em> gone." He snarled thought clenched teeth.

It was a good thing we were out hunting. If the others found out that Bella had… well, I didn't exactly know what they would do, but we _all_ knew Rosalie would do anything for Edward to come home. She'd become so sad because our family was broken; it was like mising a crucial gear in a piece of machinery without Edward. We couldn't work right without him.  
>"I know you don't want to think about what Edward'll do now, but we-" My words choked off as I regained sight of Bella.<p>

_Oh my God._

"Japer, call Edward _NOW."_

He didn't ask questions, for which I was grateful, although I knew he was burning to.

He took out his phone and hit dial. It continued to ring.  
>"Keep dialing!" I wailed.<br>I could see he was panicking; I certainly was. Jasper had given up all attempts at calm, and the phone was shaking in his grip at his effort not to smash it.

Bella was changing. It was obviously too late for her, but she couldn't do it alone. We could run back to Forks, but I knew the person who would want to, and the only person who _could_ ease Bella's pain, was Edward.  
>And he wasn't answering the God damned phone.<p>

Jasper handed me the mobile. It was still ringing.  
>"Pick it up!" I shouted into the receiver. I hung up and hit dial again, this time, the line got through.<br>"Jasper? What's wrong?" His voice sounded dead; I flinched. It was horrible, knowing how torn apart his life was. What would he think when he found out about Bella? Would he be happy to know that he would see her again?

I grimaced. That was obvious. Of course he wouldn't. He'd rip himself up further knowing that it was he who had 'destroyed' her soul, giving her a fate he'd never wanted for her. He would be in shreds by the time he reached her.  
>"Edward, go back to Forks <em>now.<em>"

He sighed. I knew he became instantly distressed when we ever mentioned anything to do with Bella, but he was good at hiding it—most of the time. His voice sounded so pained when he spoke that it was impossible to cover up how much he missed her.

"Alice, we've been over this. I'm _not_ going back. We've done enough damage—"  
>"Well at the moment that doesn't matter, because if you don't get back Bella is going to be writhing in pain <em>alone<em> for days." I Snapped "_Go. Back_."  
>A painful silence stretched on across the line.<p>

I felt so guilty; knowing that, right now, the pain he was feeling must be like leaving Bella all over again. What I said would really be sinking in; knowing Edward, he would try and deny it, but there was no mistaking the meaning behind my words.

After a few more unbearably long seconds, I heard the sound of wind on the other side of the line.  
>"Where?" He snarled.<br>"In the meadow. Laurent got her. He's gone now, but I didn't see what happened to him."  
>The sound of air whipping past the receiver increased, and I knew he would be running as fast as he could to reach the one he loved. Right now, he would never have the patients to sit in an idle plain or train while the travel checks were carried out.<p>

He didn't have to far to run, only from northern Mexico. At his speed, he would be there soon.  
>"Alice... How long has she got..?" He whispered. The agony was clear in his voice, even more than before.<br>I looked into the misty depths of Bella's rapidly changing future. Vivid things flashed before my eyes before I could decipher them, but the time when her pain was stop was clear.  
>"About three da—" The line went dead. I sighed. He obviously didn't want any more help.<p>

I looked into Jaspers stunned face and nodded. I knew he had heard enough to know what was going on.  
>"They're going to be okay?" He asked it as a question, even though I knew he was trying to reassure me.<p>

Their reunion wouldn't be pleasant, let alone under the circumstances. Bella truly believed that Edward didn't love her. Would she think otherwise when he came back? Well, I certainly hoped so. Something good would come of this, even if it's painful for them both.

"Jasper, lets not say anything about this right now. Think how Esme would worry; If Bella is ok, we'll tell them. She may not even want to stay…" I trailed off.

She might not stay.  
>Perhaps she would rebel, like any other newborn. She would be thirsty and craving <em>human<em> blood. She wouldn't want to live off animals…  
>He nodded. "She'll come back, Alice. They'll be fine."<p>

I took his hand and turned back to the forest. Even though this would be painful for them both, something good _would_ come of it.  
><strong><br>**


	4. Running

**No copyright intended, all credit given to Stephenie Meyer, the creator of these characters.  
>I'm just having a little fun with the plot.<strong>

**Edward**

Another minute.

Another moment I could have spent caressing Bella's soft skin, telling her how much she meant to me… I would have held her forever, never leaving her side… not for hunting, not for anything. I would have-

The phone in my pocket rang, snapping me out of my reverie.

I made no attempt to answer it. I wasn't about to come out from my cocoon from the world. At least here I could remember Bella. There was always the aftermath of pain, though. All the time, a constant battle raging in my head.

Dream of the life I'd never have and feel excruciating pain, or try **not** to dream of the life I'd never have and still feel excruciating pain?

I had no choice any more though, of course, my choices were limited from the very moment I'd met Bella. I physically could not stop thinking about her. My mind was simply too wide. Even if I tried not to think about her, I still would be, and that would still cause me that agonizing throbbing inside my chest, in the hole where my heart used to be.

Again it rang. My brow furrowed in frustration. I thought about seeing who was distracting me from being with Bella, but the tone stopped.

It rang again. I uncurled from my tight ball, removing my arms from around my legs and sat up. I took my phone from my pocket, looking at who was trying to contact me.

Jasper.

Why was Jasper ringing me? He knew I wasn't going to come back anytime soon—if at all.

Again it rang, I sighed and steadied myself, closing my eyes to the world and trying to forget everything to do with the dream of being with Bella.

I flipped up the screen.

"Jasper, what's wrong?" I grimaced; even to me, my voice sounded dead, and I knew it wouldn't go unnoticed.

"Edward, go back to Forks _now_."

Alice? I sighed. She knew even better I wasn't going back. Not soon… only when I felt that I had done a good enough job on staying away from Bella would I permit myself to see her from a distance.  
>Something she'd seen must have worried her… to do with Bella? I stiffened.<p>

_Stay calm._ "Alice we've been through this. I'm _not _going back. We've done enough damage—"

"Well at the moment that doesn't matter, because if you don't get back Bella is going to be writhing in pain _alone _for days. Go. Back."

The world slowed around me. Time stopped, and when it restarted, I regretted it.  
>I opened my eyes and instantly understood what she was saying—but it wasn't true.<br>She was lying, surely. Why would Alice lie like that? She was wrong, this time she was…

I tried to deny it, yet the truth of it was overwhelming.

Alice _wouldn't_ lie. Of all of my family, I felt I had the strongest bond with her. Seeing the future and hearing thoughts wasn't easy. We were the freaks amongst the freaks, and we stuck together. Even Rosalie wouldn't sink that low to try and get me to return home.  
>So she was telling the truth? Bella was really… changing?<p>

_No, no, no._

And I was sitting here doing nothing, while she burned. I stood and ran, taking a moment to find my bearings.

"Where?" I snarled. All I felt was on overwhelming anger. Someone had attacked her. Someone had harmed Bella, and they would die for it. I would make sure they suffered the worst fate possible, only allowing them to die once they were truly begging for death.

"In the meadow. Laurent got her. He's gone now, but I didn't see what happened to him."

Laurent? _He _attacked Bella?

I should never have trusted him. I believed that he had changed. He had gone to live with Tanya and Kate… why didn't they mention, at least, that one of their acquaintances was murdering innocent humans? My mind was still clouded with rage to understand what had happened. Alice didn't see what had happened to him? It didn't matter. I would make sure he was found and kill him.

"Alice." I whispered. I couldn't hide the pain in my voice, it overwhelmed me. "How long has she got..?"

"About three da—"

The phone went dead. Only when I looked down did I see I'd accidently crushed it in my hand with the feeling of sorrow that was threatening to burst out of my chest.  
>I didn't need any more directions, I knew exactly which way to go and how long I'd take; I'd thought of taking the path back far too many times to count, even for me.<p>

_Bella._ Three days of torture. And an eternity of regret.

Finally being able to let the charade fall away, I felt my speed decreasing from the ragged breaths I was pulling through my teeth. My whole body was shaking as I let the realisation sink in deeper, knowing it was all my fault… again…

I would've stopped; collapsed. But I kept my pace steady. Bella needed me.

We left her; to protect her... now it was worthless. I should have left sooner… I never should have turned to her, in that small room where her fate was doomed to mix with mine; never spoken. If I'd kept my mouth shut she would stay human. If I knew the catastrophe I would cause on her life, I would have gladly left her earlier, before I knew her…

And now, all that time, I had left her alone… with no one…

And now she was burning.

I already knew what was happening to her; the pain she was in right now.

I was a curse on her life. Why was Bella's life being destroyed? Why not mine, instead of hers?

Perhaps my life was already too broken. I was useless. Simply pitying myself somewhere where I happened to stop before breaking down from the pain of knowing I would never again see the one I felt destined to spend forever with.

But she could not be doomed to eternity as a creature of the dark. She was supposed to live out her life happily with someone _human. _She deserved so much more than what I had to offer.

I had tried to stay away from human civilisation. Frozen with the thought that I might break my promise of never returning meant little hunting, and in the fragile state I was now, I didn't believe even I could stop myself if I came across the scent of spilt blood.

I was a weak, self pitying fool.

Ever since I left her, I just had one goal: make Bella safe. That consisted of staying away from her. I tried to tell myself that I was strong enough to do it, but I knew that it was almost impossible to keep the promise that would have made Bella's life one worth living.

So many times my control lapsed. I so nearly ran back, was so close to seeing her. Even thinking about returning made my cold heart swell with hope.

Trying to track Victoria, knowing that I was doing _something _to help Bella, made me through the day; but she was never off my mind.

I could never help wondering what she was doing, or if she'd moved on yet… I kicked myself for hoping the latter to be false. I would never want her to forget me. I would always want what was best for her, but this clashed too strongly with it. I left to save her, but I would never want her to forget the brief time we spent together.

Every night I had watched her dream of me, knowing that each moment I spent with her would cause her even more pain when I left. Yet every time she mumbled my name, I was pulled back into spending another day, another night with her. If I could have stayed, I would want her to think of _nothing _but me.

And now I ran. But, what would I do when I reached her? I could not save her. She was to far through the transformation…

Try to ease her comfort? What if she _had _moved on? What would she make of me coming back? I know that she had believed me when I told her I didn't love her. I saw it in her eyes, the last image of her I would have carried for the rest of my long life. Her eyes burning with the sorrow and pain of the lie I was telling her that would save, and now destroy, her life.

_Why? _Why did she believe me? I would always love her, more than anyone—more than anything! How could she believe I could survive without her? She is my reason for being, and without her, I am nothing. Knowing that she is alive was the only reason that keeps me here.

I knew that -little though I _hated_ it, and the pain it caused to even think it- Bella would have _died _one day. I don't know how many times I felt like giving up, but knowing that even though life was painful, if I could just stay alive long enough to protect Bella, I could follow her when she left for the next life, even though I could not join her.

But now, now that she won't need protecting anymore, my life was worthless again. If she had moved on, and I truly would never see her again, I'm not sure what I would do. Knowing there would be no escape from the pain of living without her, an eternity of grief...

The dry landscape swept past me, every image in perfect detail, yet gone so fast it was blurred into a canvas of rocky formations. The small creatures that lived beneath the ground, or took shelter from the heat in the shadows of shrubs, cowered away from my brief presence as I passed, like every creature should.

If only Bella had feared me as these creatures did; I should have shown her what a true monster I was. If she had known… it was all my fault…

Perhaps, even if she didn't want me in the same way I longed for her, I could stay with her as a friend…

What was I thinking? Now matter how much I wanted it, it would never happen.

I know now that, once she realised that it was _my_ fault that she was suffering the fate she is, _my_ fault that she was alone, _my fault _that she would never see any of her human friends or family again, she would truly hate me.

Even if it meant that I would only see her now, while she writhed and screamed in pain, I would take it. She would not want to see me again after this. I would treasure these memories, of when I would force my presence upon her one last time.

I ran straight over the thriving life of the cities, the streets alive with the bustle of unsuspecting humans. None of them knew the devastating fate Bella had been condemned to—none of them cared.

I felt like the whole world should have stopped and grieved for the loss of Isabella Swans soul.

Even though it was daylight, it was cloudy throughout most of the country, and I was able to run across the buildings, moving too fast for human eyes to see. If it had been sunny, the reflection of my skin would have given me away, and I would have to have taken a longer route around civilisation, wasting precious moments on my journey to Forks.

All I could do was keep running. I couldn't allow Bella to burn alone, not now. This wasn't supposed to happen.

As I approached the borders of Forks, I headed straight in the direction of the meadow, knowing what was waiting for me there.

I ran into the trees, panting heavily despite not needing to breathe. The weight of knowing that she lay just through the trees almost shattered me. I was overwhelmed. I felt fury at Laurent, grief because of what was happening to Bella, yet, I felt happy to be reunited with her. Even though she was suffering so badly, I couldn't help but feel an ounce of joy for knowing I was going to see her again.

I ran straight through her scent. That did it. Although I can recall with perfect clarity the scent of Bella's skin, this new trail almost made my heart beat again and I couldn't help but smile. A motion I'd not done for so long it felt unnatural, I curled the corners of my lips upwards until it touched my eyes.

I would see Isabella Swan again.


End file.
